Gas-engine-controlling mechanism.



0. ELTON. GAS ENGINE CONTROLLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY2h19I5- Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI I- 0,. ELTON.

GAS ENGINE CONTROLLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZI, l9I-5- Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

OLAF ELTON, F PORT WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO GILSON MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF PORT WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN.

ens-nnernn-coivmonnine MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7

Application filed May 21, 1915. Serial No. 29,562.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, 'OLAF ELTON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Port \Vashington, in the county of Ozaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas- Engine-Controlling Mechanism; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its general ob ect to provide a simple, economical and efiective mechanism for conj ointly and independently controlling the spark mechanism and valve mechanism of an internal combustion engine.

Specific objects of my invention are to provide a valve-rod under spring control in one direction and cam-controlled in the opposite direction in conjunction with an independent rod connection for actuating the spark mechanism also under spring-control in one direction and under cam control in the opposite direction, the said rods being arranged parallel with stop mechanism as sociated therewith whereby they are conjointlylocked in one position through the action' of a governor-controlled locking means associated with one of the rods To provide means in connection with the igniter rod in the form of a notched segment, whereby the spark moment may be advanced, retarded or cut out, the movement being efiected by a lever which is limited in its extreme movements by stop-ears that are formed upon the sector, and

To provide an anti-friction guide at the operating end of the igniter rod.

WV'th the above and other minor objects in view the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and comblnation of parts as setiorth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a fragmentary plan view of a controlling mechanism for internal combustion engines embodying the features of my invention, the said view being shown with parts removed and parts in section to more clearly illustrate structural features;

Fig. 2, a sectional elevation of the same,

the section being indicated by line 22 of Fig. 1, with a governor-controlled stoparm shown diagrammatically, the same being achpted to engage the valve-rod;

Fig. 3, a detailed sectlonal elevation of the igniter mechanism, the section being indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a cross-section through the ig;v

venience in assemblage, the main cap member comprising a portion of the split bearing in connection with the housing while another section 2" forms a closure for the neck portion of the housing, which neck portion is formed with longitudinal channels therein that constitute slide bearings for the head portions 4 and 5 respectively of an igniter rod and a valve-rod. These rods terminate with antifriction rollers 4', 5, respectively, that are incased within the chambered portion a of the two-part housing. Said housing chamber also incases an igniter. cam 6 and a Patented June 19, 1917.

valve-cam 7, which cams are secured to the v arbor 3 that driven by a gear-wheelr3 afiixed thereto and adapted to mesh with a pinion, not shown, that is usually mounted upon the crank-shaft of an engine. head portions 4 and 570i. each of the these rods are connected to the housing neck by springs 8, 8, whereby the end rollers of said rods are normally held in working en- The V gagement' with theirrespective cams, mo-

tion of which cams is imparted to the rods in opposition to their spring-control. The

main portion 5" of the valve-rod is suitably guided at its outer end and is adapted to engage the lever of an exhaust valve, which lever is indicated by dotted lines 'in Fig. 1. The head portion 5 of the valve rod also carries an' adjustable tap pet-plate' 9, which is mounted upon a block 9 that constitutes part of the rod-head and this tappet-plate is arranged to engage the nose 7 10 of a stop-arm 10 which is suitably fulcrumed, the rear end of. said arm being held into 'engag'ementwith a reciprocative coni-. cal sleeve 11, the said sleeve being, as shown,

under governor control. The contact be tween the arnrand sleeve is effected by a coiled spring 11, which connects the arm; and thus serves to normally hold the nose of the latter at a predetermined distance from the tappet-plate 9. The rods, as shown, are positioned parallel with relation. to each other and the valve-rod head provided with a lug 12, which lug carries a tappet member 12 that is arranged in the path'of travel of a corresponding stopblock 12 that is secured to the head portion 1 of the igniter rod. The head portion of said rod also has secured thereto cheek-plates 18, the lower portions of which cari v a pivot-pin 11 that serves as a fulcrum for arms 15 of an adjusting lever 15. The arms of the lever are also connected by a fulcrum-pin 14: which projects through slots 16 that are formed in the cheek-plates directly over the pivot-pin 14. The pivotpinl-Zi, which is carried by the lever-arms has mounted thereon between the cheekplates 13, an oscillatory pitman section 4: of the igniter rod. The outer end of the pit-man section carries a trip-dog 17, the nose 17 of which is arranged. to engage a spring-controlled" finger 18 that actu ates the movable electrode 19 of a spark mechanism, the said electrode and finger being mounted upon a spindle 20. The stationary electrode "21 is a'fi ixed to one wall 22 of the engine cylinder, which wall also constitutes a bearing for the spindle 20. The tripdog carries a cam-block 23 which is arranged to ride upon a supporting pin 23 that extends from the engine cylinder wall and this sliding connection is adapted to effect disengagement between the nose 17 of thetrip-dog and the finger 18, whereby the dump-spark is produced as the contact between the electrodes is broken. This spark mechanism, however, forms no part of my present invention and is simply shown to illustrate the general operation of the mechanism.

The lever 15 which is carried by the shank portion of the igniter bar, is provid ed for the purpose of lengthening andshortening said bar, whereby the spark maybe advanced or retarded, due to the predetermined position of the X tappet-nose 17 with relation to the finger 18 as, for example, when the lever 15 is moved toward the forward or cam end of the apparatus, the

pitman portion l is, through its connections to said lever, contracted with relation to the head portion of the rod and hence, in this contracted position, the moment of ignition will be retarded and likewise should the lever be moved in the opposite direction, the sparking moment would be advanced, it being understood that the slot 16 is of such proportions as to permit the slight arc movement of the pivot-pin 14 which carries the pitman portion of the igniter rod. After the rod is adjusted as to length by the operator, it is locked in its position by a spring-controlled plunger-24E, which plunger is carried by the lever 15 and has a transversely disposed foot 24: that engages notches 25 that are formed in the upper circular surface of the cheek-plates which constitute sectors. Should the speed of the engine be accelerated to a predetermined. maximum number of revolutions per minute, it will. be apparent that the governor-controlled stop-arm 10 will be depressed, whereby its nose end 10 is caused to come into the path of travel of the tappetplate 9. Should the valve-rod be advanced by its *anrto the limit of its movement, whereby the exhaust valve which it controls is opened, when the nose of the stoparm is in this position it will be apparent that said nose will engage the tappet-plate 9 and thus lock the rod in its extreme forward position as stated, whereby the exhaust valve, not shown, will be held open. Hence, aslong as the speed of the engine remains constant, the lock will prevent a charge of gas from entering the engine cylinder. Following this movement, it will be observed that after the spark-cam advances the igniter rod for a sparking operation,

upon retraction of the rod by its spring connection, its stop-lock 12 will abutthe tappet screw 12 of the valve-rod and thus prevent a full return movement of said igniter rod. Hence the igniter cam (5 will impart no positive working stroke to the igniter rod while the valve-rod locked. The operating mechanism is thus controlled, whereby the sparking mechanism is rendered inactive during a delay of the valve movement, while, when the parts are operating to perform the ordinary charging, firing and compression cycle of the engine, they work independently of each other but when the valve-rod becomes inactive it simultaneously through its connection renders the sparking mechanism inactive. Hence it will be seen that great scope of adjustment of the parts is effected to increase the capacity of the engine to its maximum.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the cam-block 23 is adapted to ride upon a flared sleeve 23", which revolubly mounted upon the pin 23, it being understood that said pin 23 is in the form of an eccentric, whereby it may be raised or lowered'toadjust the nose 17 of the :dog with relation to the finger 18. By providing the loose sleeve revolubly mounted upon the cam pin 23, friction of the parts is eliminated whereby the device will operate freely andwithout wear.

As shown; the cheek-plates 13 are pro vided with three notches a, 7) and c, the notches a and 0 being terminated with stopears l3. iVhen the adjusting lever 15 is locked in the center notch 72 by the finger 18, as shown in Fig. 1, the igniter rod is of such length whereby the spark moment is advanced to increase the power of the engine.

When it is desired to start the engine the actuating lever is shifted to the left, whereby it is locked in connection with the notch a causing the engine to spark over the center. Should it be desired to cut out the spark and thus kill the engine, the lever is advanced to the right its extreme throw, whereby it will be locked in engagement with the notch 0. Thus the rod will be distended in length and the trip-nose being beyond the point of engagement with the sparking element it follows that the said sparking mechanism will be out out, attention being called to the fact that the extreme movements of the actuating lever in either direction are limited by the stop cars 13 of the cheek-plates.

I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a reciprocative Valve rod, an independently reciprocative igniter rod and a common operating means for the rods associated with adjacent ends thereof, of a means for shortening and lengthening the igniter rod.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the

combination of a housing, a valve rod slidably mounted in and projecting from the housing, an igniter rod slidably mounted in 3. In an internal combustion engine, an igniter rod comprising a pair of sections, spaced cheek-pieces carried by one of said sections and provided with alined slots, a lever including arms straddling the cheekpieces and pivotally connected therewith at their outside ends, a pin carried by said arms and extending through the cheek-piece slots, the other section of the rod being pivotally mounted upon the lever carried pin and means for adjusting and locking the le-' ver to hold the other section in extended or retracted position. v

4. In an internal combustion engine, an igniter rod comprising a pair of sections, spaced segmental cheek-pieces carried by one of said sections and provided with alined slots and having notches in its upper peripheral edges, a lever including arms straddling the cheek pieces and pivotally connected therewith at their outer ends, a pin carried by said arms and extending through the cheek-piece slots, the other section of the rod being pivotally mounted. upon the lever carried pin, and means adapted to engage the notches of the cheek-pieces for adjusting and locking the lever to hold the other section in extended or retracted. position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

and projecting from the housing, means within the housing for procuring outward movement of the rods, means resiliently urging the rods inwardly and means for shortening and lengthening the igniter rod associated with the intermediate portion thereof.

OLAF ELTON.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. YOUNG, M. E. DOWNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

